Trade good or skills

[gapatriot]

OK guys no matter how well you prepare you are going to end up needing something, what are you going to use as a trade medium? Your time, some of your preps, silver, gold, ammo? I'm a mechanic i was blessed with a mechanical mind and a knack for fixing things with little or no money. I reload and have several dies for rounds i don't shoot. I'm building a machine lathe and have the ability to cast metal, and soon heat treat. My bol location is about 5 miles up the road from me on the family farm, we have horses, chickens, cows, goats, and soon some hogs. My father has leather working tools, he likes to work leather as a hobby. My hobby is gun building and reloading. What can you guys do to produce goods to use a trade medium? What skill do you have that will make you a productive member of your comunity? What are you going to do to get what your need?

[Kentactic]

Im not convinced the little house on the prairie community idea will work out. only way you can count on that is if you have a community of friends and family already established prior. and the odds of that idea panning out is greater id say in more rural areas. anyone near dense population cant really take that route. attempting to establish that type of community in those areas with no prior plan with most of the people in that community to be set up will likely end with you dead. its a nice idea to think may happen but where im at its just a fairy tale i likely dont plan to pursue. atleast not anytime early in any SHTF scenario.

[gapatriot]

I'm fortunate enough to be in a rural community, most are family and have lived on and farmed the area since the civil war. Anyone that isn't on board and doesn't want to pull their weight well they will be dealt with when the time comes. I just don't see the lone wolf, "head for the hills" idea working. The world is going to want to go back to some form of normalicy as soon as possible and if you have nothing to offer, your going to be screwed.

[Kentactic]

   If the world goes to shit and dosent right itself in a timely manner you can have it im outy. this thread has made me realize something. and its a good realization. although we are all on the same page with prepping...what we think we are prepping for appears to vary from person to person. and it appears to also be influenced by our personal situations as far as geogrophy and perhaps even financial and family situations.
   For example a person with small children probably dosent plan to huff it to safety on foot. that guys family is screwed if they have to get away to some other location on foot. i bet hes got a lot of gas stored to drive his family to safety. if this family with small children or even just a guy whos obese has to move on foot he might aswell just kill himself right there because hes as good as dead.
   Long story short we all have these ideas of how it will happen that magically suits our personal situations. but the reality is for a lot of us it will not suit our personal situations and we wont last 2 seconds with the plan we built up in our heads.
   so rather then put a great amount of effort into being good at some oddball skills that wont help you survive unless one specific scenario takes place we should work on skills that fit into many different scenarios so when TSHTF we dont end up fucked because we learned how to sew kevlar vests but have no clue how to boil water.

[special-k]

.....so rather then put a great amount of effort into being good at some oddball skills that wont help you survive unless one specific scenario takes place we should work on skills that fit into many different scenarios so when TSHTF we dont end up fucked because we learned how to sew kevlar vests but have no clue how to boil water.

So you you mean I'm gonna have to learn to boil water...on top of everything else now!  That's it, I quit!   [sarcasm]

[gapatriot]

Ken Odd ball skill isn't what I'm talking about at all, hell if your totally on your own and think you can survive that way in ANY scenario your fucked. I'm not talking about sewing kevlar I'm talking about skills that will be worth something. For someone that has to call a repair man for every little thing that goes wrong now, its over with each person has something they are good at. If you have no useful skills what the hell good are you in a shtf situation?

[Kentactic]

Ken Odd ball skill isn't what I'm talking about at all, hell if your totally on your own and think you can survive that way in ANY scenario your fucked. I'm not talking about sewing kevlar I'm talking about skills that will be worth something. For someone that has to call a repair man for every little thing that goes wrong now, its over with each person has something they are good at. If you have no useful skills what the hell good are you in a shtf situation?

For those that call a repair man when they have trouble with their car or a leak under the sink...those people will all die off fast. only people left in a prolonged scenario are people who are mechnically inclined and can fix and build most anything they need done. i personally am quite mechanically inlcined and was seemingly born knowing how to work on cars. if people like you and me are the only survivors then why would i ask you to get my said metal thing working for me whn i can do it myself?... there wont be any need for handy men to help little old ladies in exchange for a warm apple pie...grandma died off already... and if your saying your going to make it to the point where all you do is blacksmithing or working leather like its a 9-5 job...that wont happen anytime soon in a SHTF scenario. you still have to do EVERYthing else you need to survive or atleast some one in your pre planned community will... i have no pre planned community... so practicing working leather or rotating the tires on my truck isnt time well spent.

so back to my point... useful skills to me arent oddball things like working on cars or other metal working... thats oddball because if i had to choose to know how to always find food and water or know how to fix anything metal id pick the thing that keeps me alive... shoe shiners wont be in high demand... hunters and gatherers will. there will never be so many people good at finding/growing food that your skills are not needed... so like i said... id recommend working on those skills long before any oddball stuff. once you can whisper and deer walk up to you and have a heart attack and die then start working on how to make a car run on oxygen alone. 

[JohnyMac]

After reading Rawles new book Survivors I thought I better have something to sell or bargin with. So I went out and bought dies for common calibers of handgun and rifles. I also bought:

> Molds (There are not going to be many of those jacket bullets to reload with)
> Powder (Unique handles most handguns and IMR 3031 handles most rifle cartridges)
> Powder (2F and 3F Black powder for the old fintlocks)
> Primers (Small handgun and rifle- Large handgun and rifle)
> I periodically go to tire stores and hit them up for wheel weights. Although not the best to
   make bullets with they are pretty good for .30 caliber and up for the rifles and all handguns. For
   .223 you need harder bulets to stop leading inyour barrel.

Good dies to buy are:
.223
7.62x39
30-30
.300 Savage
.308 Win
30/06
35 Remington
9 MM
38 spl/357 mag
44 spl/mag
45ACP

You bring me your empty brass and six chickens I reload 10 rounds for you. 

Man I am such a capitalist! 

[Reaver]

I wouldn't pay you six chickens.

I might pay you 6 eggs. But not six chickens.

[WhiskeyJack]

Damn ken. It sounds like you've already given up! If that's the case can i have your sniper rifle?

I think trade skills and goods are gonna be the primary currency in an extended situation.
I guess off the bat what i have on hand that would be of value.

Medical training and supplies.
crop seeds. lots of crop seeds.
Military training. Yes you can barter those skills as well.

I think i would bust my ass to get a still together. The ability to make alcohol for drinking and antiseptic would be a huge barter item to have.

[mountainredneck2051]

i grew up poor as a motherfucker

so i had to hunt/trap all our meat
gather edibles
grow gardens, which really sucks at 9,000 ft elevation

and i made money by buying broken shit, lawnmowers, snowblowers ect....   fixing em and selling em

just yall remember that poor white trash redneck is gonna be a bad motherfucker to have come wrol time

[JohnyMac]

Mountain wrote:just yall remember that poor white trash redneck is gonna be a bad motherfucker to have come wrol time

Mountain, you are 100% correct!

Reaver, sorry man six eggs doesn't cut it either.

You have no or limited quantities of ammo you will pay, or someone else, will pay six chickens for 10 -20 rounds of ammo.   

Store bought ammo is costing consumers over $1.00 a round (.300Sav, 30-30, .308, 30/06, etc) can you imagin what one reound of ammo will cost post TEOTWAWKI??? 

[gapatriot]

mountain you are 100% right man, hell right now guys like us have our own little economies going. Johny the reloading stuff is going to be a big source of income, guns will be plentiful ammo not so much!

[rah45]

Reaver, I'd say forget the eggs, and just get some chicks hatching. If you're just doing it for trading, giving someone a chicken (repetitious resource) is worth much more than a few eggs. I do think SIX chickens is waaay too much for some ammo, but then I don't have the whole picture of this fictitious economy we're describing. 

[Reaver]

Well..... * sighs... the old me would say what I'm thinking but I'll just step out of this one as well..... *

Nah, I couldn't do that to a friend..but a stranger FUCK YEAH!


CONNECT THE DOTS!

[rah45]

Well..... * sighs... the old me would say what I'm thinking but I'll just step out of this one as well..... *

Nah, I couldn't do that to a friend..but a stranger FUCK YEAH!


CONNECT THE DOTS!

Nope, you've lost me, despite your attempts to clue me in. 

[Reaver]

Good, then all is well.

Carry On.